A staggering eight out of 10 Brits have had a 'Eureka!' moment at one time or another, but lack of funding, confidence and knowledge about where to start are stopping many of the six million bright ideas they dream up every week from ever being realised.

A new survey for the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) also discovered that the same number of us believe that inspired ideas from ordinary people could make a huge difference to serious social problems such as climate change, crime, health and education.

"The findings suggest that many of the potentially great ideas out there that could have a real impact on our big social problems are going to waste," explains NESTA Chief Executive Jonathan Kestenbaum.

In a unique bid to transform the UK's huge bank of home-grown ideas into carbon-cutting initiatives, NESTA are launching the Big Green Challenge (www.biggreenchallenge.org.uk) and have pledged to stump up a £1million in prize money to encourage people to think up new ways to reduce the carbon emissions of communities.

But how do you come up with innovative and original ideas in the first place, and what can you do to ensure that your blinding flash of genius has the very best chance of turning into reality?

Go create

"I get paid to help people to have ideas and then make them happen," says

Chris Barez-Brown, head of training at the world's largest independent innovation consultancy ?What If!

"Regardless of whether I am working with Nike or Lg, HSBC or Coke, the issues are the same. Creating is a human endeavour and therefore the winning approach works across varying businesses, countries and cultures."

Thekey to it is simple - you need some techniques and process but most importantly you need to be in the right state.

He continues: "After working with thousands of innovators I know that the techniques can only give you breakthrough thinking if you are in the right space - you need a smidgen of playfulness, a touch of confidence and a sprinkle of curiosity," he grins.

Our brains have enormous capacity for creation, but unfortunately we spend most of our lives using a very small proportion of them, according to Barez-Brown.

"Having fun has been the Achilles heel of innovation - it makes it appear flippant and childish, anything but professional, and yet by being playful we get access to 20 times more brain processing power, so it's absolutely key to tapping your own creative genius."

"The best ideas are often the most simple and straightforward," says Doug

Richard, former Dragon's Den panellist and Founder and Chairman of research group Library House.

"They don't even have to be new. Many of the most successful entrepreneurs are those who've taken existing ideas and applied them in a new way or in a new field to give the market what it's lacking or to tackle a particular social problem."

Indeed, at their heart, all ideas address a problem, claims Richard. "What's critical is the number of people who experience that problem," he reveals.

"Too often inventors or entrepreneurs come up with ideas to tackle their own personal bugbears without stopping to think about how genuine or widespread the problem is - but without a market, an idea is essentially useless."

Turning dreams into reality

If you think that you've identified a problem - and the beginnings of a solution - the first step is to talk to people, according to Richard.

"Find out if they share your concerns, and what their own needs might be," he advises.

"There is an image people have when they think of that 'Eureka!' moment, of someone in isolation, such as scientists in labs or deep thinkers in ivory towers but the reality of how ideas happen is quite different, and more ideas spring from collaboration between people."

But remember, researching your market is key, and the contacts you make in the early stages will be even more useful as potential customers.

"As you start to take your idea forward, you'll need all the help you can get," Richard says